Ava’s Your Smalls Appeal: Sedbergh pupil leads charity collection for girls and women

Service at Sedbergh is rooted in the belief that pupils should understand the responsibility they have to the communities around them, and that meaningful contribution often begins with simple, practical action. For Year 12 pupil Ava, this has taken the form of a collection for Your Smalls Appeal, a charity that provides bras, underwear and sanitary products to girls and women who may not otherwise have access to them. What began as a personal project has grown into a wider School effort, supported by pupils, staff and the boarding houses, and reflects the quiet power of service: noticing a need, speaking up, and helping others with dignity and care.

Can you please explain what Your Smalls Appeal does and what you’ve been collecting through your campaign?

Your Smalls Appeal is an initiative I first came across near my home. I met with a number of girls and individuals, including one lady in particular who I got in contact with. She collects lightly worn bras, sanitary products and underwear for girls in developing countries who do not necessarily have access to these items. It was a real privilege to get involved.

It is such a simple initiative, but that is part of what makes it so powerful. I think charity does not always have to be flashy, dramatic or involve big events. For me, this felt really personal, and I really wanted to support it once I had spoken to her. She was absolutely lovely, and what started as a personal project turned into something much bigger. It has been incredible to witness.

So what does it actually involve from start to finish? How does it work?

Basically, once all the collections are done, the lady will ask me to drop everything off at a depot near her. From there, the items will be packed up in boxes and flown out to countries like Kenya, Uganda and Sierra Leone, as well as to parts of the UK. She organises the transport and gets the donations to where they are needed most. Sometimes people also want to give money to help with transport costs, but the appeal is really more about the items themselves than monetary donations.

When I first saw it, I just thought, it’s girls our age, and younger and older. It affects women entirely. I felt that was really moving because, in a generation where something so simple is overlooked, like a bra or a bra strap, I felt it was such an important thing to be able to give that gift to somebody else. It’s such a simple thing that we take for granted every single day, but to somebody else it can mean safety, dignity and just general confidence in life, and I thought that was really important.

What did you learn about the Appeal’s impact that has really stayed with you?

I think, to me, the fact that it can protect girls in such a simple way was a really, really important thing that resonated with me throughout the charity. It’s just being able to have sanitary towels and those sorts of products for them to be able to stay in education. I thought that was a really privileged thing to have, and I think we have that all the time, but for those girls, it will benefit their community as well as them and the people around them. I thought that was really, really important.

How did you go about turning the idea into something practical within the school?

Well, at first it started as a personal project. I was contributing to it last November and little bits last year, and I brought it up with my housemistress. She thought that it was a really important thing to donate to, so I made a poster and put it up around school, just in case anybody else wanted to contribute, like in the girls’ houses. It was honestly incredible to witness the number of people who got involved with it.

Then the Headmaster found out about it and wanted me to do an assembly on it, and it honestly just shocked me, the response that I got from it. I’ve had so many extra donations, especially from the boys in the School as well, which I really wasn’t expecting. It was honestly magical to witness this whole community come together in that.

Do you have numbers on what you’ve collected?

We have now got just over 300 bras, likely more, for girls in many different sizes, new and old. We’ve also just hit over 1,500 sanitary products, which I feel is amazing.

What has surprised you most about running the appeal?

The general inclination to donate was really there, because normally some things just get swept under the rug a bit, whereas this really felt like it was something main. I really, really appreciated all the help that I got from teachers and everybody else in the School. It was honestly incredible.

Were there any challenges in encouraging people to donate or in talking about an issue that some people might find as a bit sensitive?

I would say it’s definitely a sensitive issue to some, but also about removing the stigma around it, especially with the boys as well. I was quite nervous to speak about it in chapel, honestly, but the responses that I got were lovely. There were no little giggles at the back of chapel or anything. It was just the whole community that came together, and I didn’t really face many issues with it, to be honest. Everyone was just so welcoming and lovely with bringing in donations and everything like that. It was just lovely.

When you spoke to everybody in assembly what message were you most keen for pupils to take away?

I think I was just hoping for students to realise that charity doesn’t always have to be a really big thing. I mean, Sedbergh Gives Back is a massive thing that we have here, but with something as little, small and simple as this, I just wanted people to realise that it doesn’t have to be big monetary donations. Sometimes items are more important, and I think that’s definitely what this charity was aiming for.

So what do you see as your future with your smalls appeal? Do you think you’ll continue with that next year or do you have your eye on something different, another issue that has sort of come to your site?

Well, I like to donate to charity quite a bit, but I feel that since I’ve got involved with this one, it has resonated with me the most as a teenage girl. I think I’ll definitely continue contributing to the same charity. I’ll maybe try and get the School involved again next year, just to have it as an annual thing. Other than that, I think sticking with one charity is quite important, because then you’re supporting the same cause again, and I feel like that’s really important.

What are you hoping to do after sixth form?

I’m looking at degree apprenticeships, but I went to Durham University recently and I’m going again for their open day soon. Honestly, when you get a feel for a place, I just felt like I really fitted in there. I felt like they were my people and I felt like it was the course I really wanted to do. I want to go down the sports route, maybe become a teacher and I feel like that’s definitely something that I really, really want to do.

As you go into next year, is there anything you will keep in mind to motivate yourself? It might be a mantra, a goal, or simply something you say to yourself when things get demanding towards the end of the year.

That’s a great question. I saw a quote from a famous freeskiier the other day, actually, and it may not relate to school in a way, but it really just, you know when something just hits you? It was, “Train like you’ve never won and compete like you’ve never lost.” I always feel like that just, I don’t know, it really just feels to me like always try your best and always act as though you can achieve what you can achieve, because everyone’s got something in them, and I think that’s really important.

Do you feel that within the house there’s support behind you to do that, to follow that path?

Oh, definitely. Everyone in House is so supportive, and I’ve never been more grateful for the group of sisters, almost, that I’ve had since we joined in Year 9. We’ve had the same year group as well. It’s been the original 12. No one’s joined, no one’s left. Honestly, I couldn’t have asked for a better group of girls around me all the time.